N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks

Commentary:

* Last week's Walking Dead domination has subsided a bit, though the Compendium still sits at #1 on the comics chart (#21 on the overall chart). But nipping at its heels is the as-yet-untitled seventh book in the Wimpy Kid series, which was announced but four days ago as being released in November but is already #2 on the comics chart and #32 overall.

* This week's Supreme Court arguments about the Health Care Reform Act see its graphic novel explanatory return to the chart all the way up in the #4 position (#94 overall).

* Dead Watch: Despite the softening of sales compared to last week's Dead-a-palooza, WD collections still take twenty-six of the slots on the top fifty.

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks

Commentary:

* This week's big story is the total domination of the bestseller list by The Walking Dead. While not quite as impressive as it was earlier in the week, it still holds the top ten slots, twenty-two of the top 25, and more than half of the top fifty. Every extant print collection of The Walking Dead is in the top thirty.

* The WD Compendium, #1 this week on the comics chart, is an impressive #8 on the overall chart. The others in the top ten rate thusly overall: #20, #37, #54, #56, #61, #75, #82, #94, #96. (So yeah, if you do a little math, you'll see that The Walking Dead is taking up 10% of the overall top 100 on Amazon.)

* Last week I stated that there were only twenty-four WD collections extant. Turns out I was wrong, as it's also available on the Kindle, and two of those Kindle editions debut on the chart this week as well.

* The top debut this week is Spider-Man: Ends of the Earth, whose 65% off pre-publication price appears to be a bargain that many fans are finding attractive.

* The latest trend in Kindle comics appears to be 99¢ comics strip collections from Andrews McMeel. Collections of Ziggy & Close to Home join If You Loved Me You'd Think This Was Cute on the chart this week. There are full-size collections, not cheap samplers, and 99¢ appears to be a magic price point.

* The other debut this week is Dean Koontz's House of Odd. The previous Odd book did quite well, so keep an eye on this one.

* The only non-WD item on the list to show positive movement week-to-week was Maus.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The second season finale of The Walking Dead television show was the top-rated cable program of the week with nearly nine million viewers. It handily beat its closest competitors, Swamp People and Jersey Shore.

And today over on Amazon, collections of The Walking Dead comic book currently occupy the top fourteen slots on the Comics & Graphic Novels bestseller chart, and 23 of the top 25. The Compendium is #7 on the overall Amazon chart, the first hardcover is #12, the second hardcover is #21, and the first paperback is #27.

(I do my weekly Amazon chart snapshots on Fridays; it will be interesting to see if they continue strong through the rest of the week...)

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks

Commentary:

* For the second week in a row we have a new #1. After knocking on the door for several weeks, The Walking Dead Compendium finally pushes into the top slot on the comics chart (and is at #35 on the overall chart).

* Dead Watch: In fact, this is as much domination as we've ever seen one franchise have on the chart, with four collections in the top ten and twenty-two in the top fifty. (If I'm counting correctly, there are only twenty-four Walking Dead collections extant.)

* The Walking Dead moving to #1 wasn't a big surprise, but bursting onto the chart for the first time at #2 is the A Game of Thrones comic adaptation (#54 on the overall chart). While WD's appeal will likely lessen after this weekend's season finale, AGoT is just now ramping up with its second season debuting on April 1.

* Other debuts this week are Avengers: The Children's Crusade, the sixteenth Walking Dead collection, and The United States Constitution.

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks

Commentary:

* And we have a new #1. The bargain-priced Kindle edition of Nick Galifianakis's If You Loved Me You'd Think This Was Cute: Uncomfortably True Cartoons About You scoots up to the top of the chart in just its second week. It would appear that Kindle readers really like a 272 page book of cartoons for just $1.79. (It is also available as a free download for Amazon Prime members, which may or may not be factoring in to its position on this chart.)

* This ends Cabin Fever's thirty-four week reign at the top of the comics & graphic novels chart. If history is any guide, it should end up at #1 for 2012 when I compile the annual chart.

* I was pretty certain that Cabin Fever was going to be toppled this week, but I was surprised at which book did the toppling. For most of the past week, The Walking Dead Compendium was sitting in the top slot. Cabin Fever and Walking Dead are running very close to one another, #77 & #87 on the overall Amazon chart. If I had compiled the weekly rankings a few hours earlier or later, the top three could easily have been in a different order.

* Actually, the top of the chart was quite volatile this past week; at one point, the Dilbert 2.0 collection was sitting at #1, due to a temporary price reduction to $11.59 (from its list price of $85).

* Dead Watch: The other story this week is the continuing overall chart domination of The Walking Dead; Twenty-two slots on the top 50 chart are taken up by Walking Dead collections, including three of the top 10. This week Amazon customers show a preference for the paperback collections; and at a 44-46% discount, who can blame them?

* The top debut this week is the latest volume of Naruto midway down the chart, and the second Ninjago volume way down at the end.

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks

Commentary:

* A big surprise near the top of the list this week, as the Kindle edition of Nick Galifianakis's collection of single-panel cartoons debuts at #2. Price likely had something to do with it: the print edition sells for $11, while the Kindle version is offered at just $2. That's still not enough to topple Cabin Fever though, which is at #71 on the overall Amazon book chart.

* Price likely had much to do with the top ten return of Mickey Mouse, which for a few hours earlier this week was selling at just $5.

* Another surprisingly high debut this week is the new Uncanny X-Force hardcover at #11. And it was strong enough to bring up the previous collection into the bottom of the chart as well.

* Other debuts this week are Derf's My Friend Dahmer; and the JLA collection on which the latest DC Animated movie is based.

* Dead Watch: Nineteen slots in the top fifty are taken up by The Walking Dead. That's a lot…